“Pig rescues baby goat” has had more than 7 million hits on YouTube. The pig, as it happens, has had no actual life-saving feats.

The New York Times writes that the 30-second clip is not proof of animals being compelled to save other animals, but instead a clip from a Comedy Central show called Nathan For You.

The clip was made, “. . . with the help of some 20 crew members, including animal trainers, scuba divers and humane officers, and required the fabrication of a plastic track to guide the pig to the goat (which was never in jeopardy).”

There was apparently no plan to push the clip as being real; it went viral without any help from the creators.

And it’s all the fault of people like me. Kelly McBride from the Poynter Institute tells the Times, “It really is embarrassing for the journalists who stumbled upon this and decided to promote it or share it with their audience. It’s almost a form of malpractice.”

Well, first of all, no one lost a kidney or ended up wrongly convicted and I’m not under any kind of oath . . . And, secondly, IT WAS A CUTE PIG RESCUING A CUTE BABY GOAT!

Anyway, I’m sorry for having played a part in disseminating false-cuteness.

More on thestar.com

We value respectful and thoughtful discussion. Readers are encouraged to flag comments that fail to meet the standards outlined in our
Community Code of Conduct.
For further information, including our legal guidelines, please see our full website
Terms and Conditions.